Walmart Is Making a Major Change That Could Help You Save Money

There are few things more tedious than making a grocery list, especially considering that it’s something you’re going to have to do pretty much every week for the rest of your life. But a new AI-powered assistant from Walmart promises to help take some of that work off your plate—and maybe help you save a little bit of cash. 

Launched in June, Walmart’s app is now equipped with an AI assistant named Sparky, which the company says will help make it easier for consumers to score deals on their favorite ingredients, find meals to cook with those ingredients, and create shopping lists. But does it actually work? I put Sparky to the test, and here’s what I found.

What Can Walmart’s AI Assistant Actually Do? 

Built right into the Walmart app, Sparky is a chatbot that has the ability to answer questions about all sorts of products, including food. I started by asking Sparky a pretty obvious question: How can you help me save money on groceries at Walmart? 

In response, the app offered a variety of suggestions for low-cost ingredients, like Great Value-brand spaghetti and affordable fresh veggies. It also allowed me to add those ingredients directly to my cart, which does add a level of convenience.

When I asked Sparky what ingredients I would need to make spaghetti, it brought up jars of Rao’s and Ragu alongside boxes of angel hair pasta and linguini, then asked if I wanted to explore options for adding protein or vegetables to the dish. 

Does It Work? 

My experience with Sparky was hit or miss. It was effective in bringing up low-cost ingredients at Walmart, which would definitely be helpful in planning a budget-friendly shopping list, but less helpful with things like meal planning. When I asked the app to develop a menu of healthy dishes for the week, it mostly suggested pre-packaged convenience meals, like frozen dinners, instead of ideas for nutritious meals I could make on my own. 

Similarly, when I asked for help with planning a party for five people—just suggestions for food and decorations, to keep things simple—it offered me a fairly limited range of frozen pizzas, packaged cookies, and perhaps most bizarrely, multiple options for fresh or frozen chicken wings, but no sauce or anything else that might go with the dish. 

Would I Use Sparky? 

Ultimately, it seems like Walmart’s AI assistant needs a few more tweaks to really be ready for prime time. While I enjoyed exploring the types of things that Sparky might be able to help me with—who wouldn’t want someone else to write their shopping list for them?—I wasn’t satisfied with the results the vast majority of the time. 

I can still see its value for less experienced grocery shoppers, like college students looking to cook their first meals away from home, or folks who want to explore the latest that Walmart has to offer, and find its lowest-priced groceries.